On the Verge

As we creep closer and closer to the start of production, I've been doing my best to keep a level head about everything. I don't want to get too excited -- the movie isn't a movie yet, and it won't be a movie for a while. There's still lots of work to be done before we get to that point.

But, yesterday, I had a brief emotional moment when I walked in to the studio. The set, its walls built up, its paint dry, with some pieces of furniture already in place, looked fantastic. What's more, it looked like all the sketches, models and diagrams that have been floating around my apartment for the past several months. When I walked in to that set for the first time, I couldn't contain the sense that 'this is really happening'.

There's something very powerful about building and shooting in a set. So far, almost everything I've worked on has involved shooting on-location, with minimal adjustments to the rooms being used. Now, for the first time, I've been able to dictate the dimensions and demeanor of the space, and through that, of the film itself. I determined (with help, of course), the colors (which are very intentional, and meant to go entirely un-noticed), the shapes, the very furnishings of the space that encompasses so much of this story. I won't know 'til the film is ready if I've done it right, but it's thrilling to know that on this film, more than any I've shot before, will consist entirely of products of the combined imaginations of my team -- products that I need to coordinate for the screen.

Tomorrow, when the actors step in to that space for their first rehearsal, I'll really get a taste of what I've been preparing for all these months. Think I'll be on cloud 9? It'll be far below me. But of course, there's more work to be done. It's not a movie yet!

-Arnon